Now is not the time to be putting new packaging on old business strategies

Following the publication of the Advisory Group on Economic Recovery (AGER) report, the Scottish Government has pledged to build a “new compact” with businesses in Scotland. As Scotland’s leading business organisation, we welcome every effort made by politicians of all hues to engage with our members. It is true to say that the crisis caused by the pandemic has forged stronger links between businesses and government at all levels. If the virus has shown us anything it’s how much businesses and policy-makers need one another. Our ongoing tracker of business sentiment throughout the lockdown period has shown how essential the support of programmes such as the Treasury’s furlough scheme or the Scottish Government’s small business and sector grant schemes have been to the very survival of so many businesses. The fact these businesses survive ensures there will be sufficient employment and prosperity to ensure our economy recovers. The onus is now on all of us to ensure that this momentum is maintained and even powered up as we tackle issues left in the pandemic’s wake. These will be problems that have been caused by damage inflicted by the lockdown as well as longstanding weaknesses in our economy that have been further exposed. Engagement is key but it has to be the right kind in order for it to truly make a difference. It will require a change in behaviours and attitude rather than taking an approach that could be interpreted as ticking boxes again. This is mainly based on engendering trust between parties and then ensuring there is commitment to turning strategy into action. In our long experience of working with government, nine out of 10 strategies drawn up as a result of people sitting around a table working to the same agenda and ambitions are actually quite impressive. The biggest problem emerges when the grand plans dissolve into dust when it comes to implementation. This happens when there is a failure of leadership to truly grasp and ensure quality follows through. Trust is also about acknowledging that the vast majority of businesses will do their utmost to do the right thing. The flipside of this is challenging the pervasive sense that wealth creation is somehow bad or undesirable, that profit is somehow a dirty word. Profit is actually the fuel of the vehicle which drives inclusive societies and supports pillars like education, healthcare and the social safety net. Pre-Covid, most employers worked their socks off to provide fair work, adopting flexible policies and working towards a fair living wage, with the majority already paying over this level. The vast majority of business leaders believe that employees living in poverty is a disgrace to us all. I accept that we do not all get it right all the time. However, I do believe that we as a nation will always be ambitious, creative, and strive to share the wealth we create. Governments, at local, national and UK levels, businesses from the sole trader to the CEO of major corporations – they have all been working at super speeds to come up with solutions – to remodel policies, revise economic strategies and adopt new business models to steer through the crisis and beyond. Now is not the time to be putting new packaging on old strategies. We need to leave behind old modes of engagement and learn to push into new territory. Businesses have shown an immense willingness to engage with our political leaders. We are hungry for deeper engagement, even that which is brutally honest. We know how to run our businesses – often 24/7. When we wake up in the morning, we are already thinking of how we secure that new order or supplier or opportunity. We seek profit, which we can then invest to grow, and by growing we can then create jobs and opportunities. Let’s embrace the dynamism of entrepreneurial hunger to identify how we can do things differently, that will get faster and better results. We need this to be done in a way so that we can quickly identify solutions and ways of doing business that will create jobs and grasp opportunities around the globe.

Businesses must work together to identify faster and better ways to achieve success.